1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to braces, and more particularly, to braces for supporting or immobilizing a portion of the human body and incorporating a pulley mechanism for tightening the brace.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the sport of weight lifting, participants frequently wear a body support or brace that takes the form of a waist belt to properly support their bodies in order to prevent injury thereto. Conventional weight lifting belts are made of heavy leather and include a plurality of tongues at one end of the belt for engaging a corresponding plurality of buckles attached to the opposite end of the belt. Typically, such weight lifting belts are approximately four inches wide and one-quarter inch thick, the permissible range of width and thickness being specified by international sport federations.
Weight lifting belts must be secured very tightly in order for the wearer to obtain proper support therefrom. However, it is very difficult for the wearer to sufficiently tighten the belt by himself. Accordingly, it is not unusual for two other persons to pull the ends of the belt together in order to sufficiently tighten the belt for proper support while the wearer engages the buckles. Similarly, it is very difficult for the wearer to remove the tightened belt by himself, and the help of another person is frequently required to unbuckle the belt.
Tremendous tensional forces are applied to a weight lifting belt when the wearer is lifting weights, particularly in the case of heavyweight classes of competition. These tensional forces are transmitted directly to the tongues and buckles of conventional weight lifting belts and apply significant stresses thereto.
The same considerations are involved when the brace takes the form of an immobilizer. For example, an injured person may require a brace to prevent articulation of an elbow. The application of sufficient force to tighten the brace renders self mounting of the brace difficult or even impossible since the injured person must operate with only one hand.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a brace for supporting or immobilizing a portion of the human body which can be sufficiently tightened and fastened by the wearer alone in order to provide himself with proper support, and which brace can be easily removed by the wearer alone.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a brace for supporting or immobilizing a portion of the human body which evenly distributes tensional forces at a plurality of points disposed along the brace.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.